The latest World of Brass — 4barsrest.com Rankings show significant changes throughout after the recent Regional Championships in the UK, although the top five positions remain unchanged in spite of a number of surprise results.
Victories for Carlton Main Frickley Colliery (+1), Flowers (+2), Jaguar Land Rover (+33), Leyland (+1), NASUWT Riverside (+64), Regent Brass (+81), Tongwynlais (+3) and Whitburn (+4) will also provide these bands and the other qualifiers with further opportunities later in the year.
Top 10 bands 1. Cory 2. Foden's 3. Black Dyke 4. Brighouse and Rastrick 5. Tredegar 6. Leyland 7. Fairey 8. Grimethorpe 9. Carlton Main 10. Tongwynlais Temperance
Some of them will also be appearing at the Spring Festival in May or the English National Championship in June, so we can look forward to more significant movements from them before the summer break.
Next on the horizon is the European Championships, at which Black Dyke and Cory will be looking to secure the top spot, but we can also expect strong challenges from leading contenders like Eikanger-Bjørsvik (Norway) and Brass Band Schoonhoven (Netherlands).
Other contests included in the rankings since the last update are:
Oxfordshire — won by Newstead Welfare;
Northern Ireland Brass Band League — won by 1st Old Boys Silver;
Silkeblaes Entertainment Contest — won by Aarhus;
To view all the ranked bands, go to:
www.4barsrest.com/rankings/default.asp
Note: This update does not include the results of the 2013 Australian Nationals